RIP Zhou Youguang, co creator of Pinyin.

Zhou Youguang, Architect Of A Bridge Between Languages, Dies At 111

Before Pinyin, 85 percent of Chinese people could not read, according to the BBC. Now, UNICEF says the literacy rate in China hovers at about 95 percent.

Lately, Pinyin has also been integral in determining the ways mobile phones and computers transmit Chinese characters.

Still, despite the broad acceptance of his system, Zhou went on to become something of a thorn in the side of the country's Communist government. During the Cultural Revolution, in the '60s and '70s, Zhou drew the scrutiny of the Communist Party. In 1969, he was even labeled a "reactionary academic authority" and exiled to a labor camp for more than two years, reports The New York Times.

But he was not dissuaded from speaking his mind for long. As he aged, he became more vocal about his dissatisfaction with the powers that be.

And, as Louisa Lim noted for NPR, Zhou was not afraid to use his stature to point out discrepancies he found in Communist Party doctrine.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/14/509820277/zhou-youguan...